The Glasgow post-rockers Mogwai (above, performing “Every Country’s Sun” for BBC Radio) formed in 1995 when three friends, Stuart Braithwaite (vocals and guitar), Dominic Aitchison (guitar) and Martin Bulloch (drums), decided to make music together. With the later addition of Barry Burns (bass, keys and vocals) and John Cummings (guitar), who’s since departed, they’ve has become known for trafficking in serious guitar rock, although that guitar rock has also gone through changes. “Few ’90s rock bands were better prepared than Mogwai for the movie-trilogy blocks of music allowed by the iPod,” per Rolling Stone. “The Scottish outfit moved from making bombastic explosions in the sky to crafting widescreen soundtracks to goin’ down the road feeling bad.” But on this year’s Every Country’s Sun (stream it below)—the four-piece’s ninth studio release—things haven’t changed too much. “The group has grown into an acclaimed international act, 22 years and counting, with a reliable musical formula that’s steady as a slow-burning fuse. That remarkable consistency makes Every Country’s Sun resemble a greatest-hits album, even if it’s made up of brand-new tracks,” says the A.V. Club. “By now, there have been thousands of other bands plying Mogwai’s fusion of quiet and bombastic, but Every Country’s Sun argues that there’s still no one who does it better.” And with their fall tour winding down, Mogwai play Terminal 5 on Friday night. Electronic musician Xander Harris opens.

Mogwai – Town Hall – January29, 2017

I can’t speak for the rest of the audience that packed Town Hall last night to bear witness to Mogwai perform their score for the documentary Atomic, Living in Dread and Promise, but anyone with any amount of identification whatsoever with humanity had to have been leveled. The 2015 documentary directed by Mark Cousins strung together archival footage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima, and the Three Mile Island accident, also showing the subsequent protests and revelations of the Cold War era. Mogwai performed their score for the film live to close out the Edinburgh International Festival in 2016, and have been touring with it through North America to begin 2017. With an equally impressive magnitude of output and precision of timing, they played in lockstep with the large-screen projection of the film above and behind them last night. Two touring members joined the band’s core, guitarist Stuart Braithwaite, keyboardist Barry Burns and drummer Martin Bulloch.

I think I can unequivocally say, without hyperbole, that I’ve never before been impacted by art’s power to alter consciousness, both in the aspect of being sensationally evocative and also provocative of motivation. It quickly got to a point where my eyes were fixated on the utterly devastating footage of the by-products of the inception of atomic energy. The band appeared to just dissolve into the surrounding darkness. At times during the breaks in the score that made audible the remarks of people who lived during that time and dealt directly with its consequences, all onstage seemed as though they were bowing their heads in memory and silence. The music brought together an ensemble of electric guitar, keyboards and drums in one massive, scorching onslaught, blowing up the normal paradigm of the concert experience. It was no place for children or those faint of tolerance.

In my opinion, Mogwai have now passed into a rarified class of musicians who recognize the influence harnessed in their compositions and find applications to a cause larger than their own. The performance was all the more disquieting now that we are all that much closer to something going disastrously and irreparably wrong. Our newest president and anyone remotely associated with nuclear proliferation should be strapped down and made to see this show. Absolutely, Mogwai’s performance of Atomic is an agent for a message with enormous significance, escorting it to a place where it is impossible to ignore. —Charles Steinberg | @Challyolly

The Glasgow post-rockers Mogwai formed in 1995 when three friends, Stuart Braithwaite (vocals and guitar), Dominic Aitchison (guitar) and Martin Bulloch (drums), decided to make music together. With the later addition of Barry Burns (bass, keys and vocals) and John Cummings (guitar), the group became a five-piece trafficking in serious guitar rock, although that guitar rock has also gone through changes. Per Rolling Stone: “Few ’90s rock bands were better prepared than Mogwai for the movie-trilogy blocks of music allowed by the iPod. Over the past 18 years, the Scottish outfit moved from making bombastic explosions in the sky to crafting widescreen soundtracks to goin’ down the road feeling bad.” But on this year’s Rave Tapes (stream it below)—the five-piece’s eighth studio release—things haven’t changed too much. According to Paste, “Mogwai’s nuanced focus is largely dependent upon the illusion of synthetic expansion rather than their trademarked barebones guitar-band meandering on Rave Tapes. Though that electronic dabbling may lurk in and out of the lion’s share of these songs, it’s not as if the band has hung up their spacey, drone-y roots.” Mogwai (above, performing “How to be a Werewolf”) are currently working their way up the East Coast in support of their new album. See them play Terminal 5 on Friday night. The space-rock Majeure opens the show.

The Glasgow post-rock band Mogwai formed in 1995 when three friends, Stuart Braithwaite (vocals and guitar), Dominic Aitchison (guitar) and Martin Bulloch (drums), decided to make music together. With the later addition of Barry Burns (bass, keys and vocals) and John Cummings (guitar), the group became a five-piece trafficking in serious guitar rock. They’ve put out seven well-regarded studio albums, including last year’s Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will. And although they had to postpone their previous two North American appearances, Mogwai (above, doing “San Pedro” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) is back, playing Webster Hall tomorrow and Friday. Do yourself a favor and go see them live.